A dad who can't tell his identical one-year-old sons apart has made a desperate plea online to parents of other sets of twins.

The anonymous man wrote the cry for help on social networking site Reddit , after admitting that he and his wife had 'tried everything' to tell them apart.

His desperation stems from the fact that one of his boys has serious health issues and requires medication every four hours.

He wrote: "If he doesn't have his medication it leads to significant consequences. [The boys] are completely identical. Even me and my wife can't tell them apart and have been drawing on Adam's arm every day with permanent marker."

However, this method recently caused a very serious incident, as he explained: "The twins were at Grandma's and after a bath rubbed off the text, Grandma accidentally gave Aaron's medication to Adam.

The dad also suggested piercing an ear so he could tell them apart (pic posed by model) (Photo: Getty Image)

"Adam ended up very sick and Aaron in hospital for a week. This is a serious, extreme situation and I don't want to take this risk again. We have had other mix-ups with the boys but it has never wound up this bad."

He went on to say that they've tried nail polish, bracelets, anklets, specific colours of clothes for each boy but they want a more permanent solution.

"I read online about someone tattooing a single dot on one of the twins and also about piercing ears.

"I really hate to say it, but we are here. I need to do something permanent. I could have lost both my sons last weekend and I'm desperate.

Other Reddit users were quick to sympathise with the dad, with one commenting: "My friend has a similar issue and used to paint her boys' toenails. She ended up getting a dot tattooed on the bottom of one boy's foot.

"I think the ear piercing is a great idea, very low risk. Babies often have their ears pierced while they are young with no extreme side effects.

"It sounds incredibly stressful, good luck in the future."

Another suggested a henna tattoo might be a better and less permanent option.